Chapter 31
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
Haze
I sit in Hally’s car while she spills her guts. I didn’t think I’d get much out of her, but this chick is a little nervous around me. I don’t enjoy playing on women’s emotions, but in this scenario, it involves Willow so I need to know.
“I overheard Mr. Sinclair talking to the Commissioner about a threat against Willow,” she blurts. “I didn’t know what to do. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I wasn’t snooping. I wanted to help…”
“Be straight with me,” I say. “Then this won’t have to go south. Got me?”
She eyes me quickly. “You said you won’t hurt me.”
“Maybe I lied?”
“But Willow trusts you — if anything happened to me…”
“Listen and listen up good. What I do is for Willow. I’ll take out anyone who tries to hurt her, includin’ you.” I’m not messing around, and I don’t give a shit that she’s a cop.
“I know, Haze. I get it. You’re a good guy,” she says. “I don’t doubt what you do is for Willow. I’ve witnessed how you are with her, and I’d never do anything to put her in jeopardy, or anyone else for that matter. I just wanted to help.”
“So what did you do specifically with the lab?”
“I heard Cameron saying he still didn’t trust everyone at the NOPD. I can’t say I blame him after the media coverage of corruption over the last few years. That being said, I was double checking that the forensics team weren’t trying to purposely leave anything out—”
“And were they?”
“I don’t think so. They had no idea the letters were meant for Willow. I didn’t know that when I went into the lab that night. First, I needed to make sure this wasn’t coming from within the station.”
“And you don’t think it is?”
She shakes her head. “Nope. So at least that’s one thing we can tick off the list.” She pauses. “Not we, I just meant me, really.”
“And you’d have no reason to be involved in any of this, would you?”
Even from this angle, I can see her eyes growing wide. “Me?” she sputters. “Seriously?”
“Stranger things have happened.”
“I’m not involved. I’m in enough trouble for arresting Max,” she sighs. “I know I was just doing my job and all, but that’s still not cool, and kinda awkward. I was trying to redeem myself a little, and I overstepped the mark. Now I’m in even deeper trouble.”
Hally is overzealous, and trying to gain brownie points, I get that.
But I like her, I decide. She’s a good cop, still a little wet behind the ears, but she’s young.
And she’s willing to put her career on the line by helping behind the scenes, and that says a lot.
Now I can rule her out once and for all as a suspect.
“How so?”
She takes a deep breath. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this.”
“Well, metaphorically, imagine I have a gun to your head.”
“Not helping, Haze.”
I shrug. “Just keepin’ it real.”
“Well, I know this is gonna sound nuts, but hear me out, okay?”
“Trust me, I’m all ears.”
“Well, you know I’ve been working on the Rooftop Killer case? I mean, kind of… I’m really just observing because this is my first year as a detective and all, they don’t really let the rookies get ahead of themselves.”
I’m not so sure if I like where this is going. “What about it?”
“I found some similarities with some of the stuff sent to Willow, but I don’t know if it’s a copycat.”
I frown. “How so? The letters?”
“Not letters as such, but something similar. A calling card. The killer breaks into highrise apartments, we’ve established that already hence the nickname, but they always leave behind letters meticulously stuck on the body in all kinds of weird magazine cutouts.”
An icy chill runs down my spine. “No shit?”
“Don’t worry, you won’t hear about that on the news because they can’t discuss the case details.
I wanted to go to Willow about it, but then she’d know I’d been snooping around.
I also had no clue if she even knew at this point about the letters, or if you and her father were still keeping her in the dark. ”
“Wait, how did you know I knew?”
She gives me a pointed look. “Seriously? I smelled a rat a mile away. Plus, Sinclair has been poking around cold cases, pretending to do some police work while he’s been sifting through information, trying to get a lead on this thing.”
“Does he know about the Rooftop Killer’s calling card?”
She shakes her head. “Nope. Even he can’t get into those files, plus, Willow makes sure he stays far away from any current investigations we have going on.”
I feel my hands starting to sweat. Had Willow put two and two together about the possibility of the Rooftop Killer being her stalker?
There have been absolutely no sightings of anyone following her anywhere.
The prospects have had eyes on her since the word went out, and there’s been nothing.
No attempts to break into her apartment — which is like Fort Knox — that right there makes me feel a whole lot better about things.
Security is obviously my number one priority when it comes to my wife, but now I seriously have to consider her reaction could’ve been because of the similarities.
“So, what else makes you think this serial killer could also be the same person who’s threatening Willow?
” My fury toward Sinclair is skyrocketing.
He kept this from the team when in reality if he’d shared it with one of the detectives — like Hally — they would’ve noticed the comparison.
It’s easy to blame him, but I was a culprit, too. I realize that.
I’m fucking mad at myself now more than ever. I squashed down every single gut instinct that told me to tell Willow sooner. And that’s on me. I also need to fucking get hold of Willow now. I bring her number up on the phone and it doesn’t ring — it goes straight to voicemail.
Goddamn it.
“Usually, I’d say it really isn’t enough to go on. There are all sorts of whacks out there, Haze, it’s a crazy world we live in,” she says. “But what’s even more crazy is there is a connection with the most recent murder and Willow’s case.”
“What is it?” I ask, redialing my wife and getting no luck. “The fuckin’ suspense is killin’ me.”
“The apartment where the woman lived? It’s Willow’s old address downtown.”
Ice cold runs through my veins. “What the fuck? And Willow knew this?”
“Well, the homicide was only a few days ago, and Willow didn’t go to the apartment because Luke and Carl are leading the investigation.
We always have an urgent meeting once we get new information, and another victim.
I would find it hard to believe she didn’t know, or didn’t connect the dots by now. ”
So, it’s possible Willow knew something and said nothing? If she pieced it together, she would have known before we even had that fight, so this doesn’t make any sense. Is she also keeping things secret? Goddamn her.
“Fuck.”
My phone rings and my heart jolts, but when I glance down at my cell, it’s Rip. “What’s goin’ on?” I bark.
“It’s Willow,” he says. Instantly my blood runs cold. “We lost her.”
“What do you mean you fuckin’ lost her?” I demand. “From Bella’s?”
“She and another girl from class got in her car, and we followed them for a while.”
“Okay, and you lost her because you’re a dipshit?”
“Well, no,” he goes on, my mood plummeting even more. “She started driving erratically, ran a red light, it was seriously nuts. That’s how we lost her. Look, it could be just her mad at us because of you, so probably nothin’ to worry about.”
“You’re fuckin’ useless. Your head is gonna be on a motherfuckin’ platter,” I spit. “Who was the chick?”
“I don’t know,” Rip says, then quickly adds, “but she’s been here before, she had yoga gear on. Audrina was with her—”
“What does she look like?”
“Blonde ponytail, she always wears a cap. Short. Cute. Unassumin’.”
That doesn’t fill my heart with joy. “Go into the studio and find out who she was. I’ll have Sawyer pull up the video surveillance.”
My heart races. If Willow had taken her own fucking car, I’d have a tracker on her right now. I guess it’s lucky I also slipped one in her purse. Willow doesn’t drive erratically. Ever.
I tell myself, this is nothing. It’s just Willow acting up, trying to lose the boys tailing her, but my gut is shaking its weary head.
“Okay, Haze, look, we’re sorr—”
I hang up on him, then immediately check my phone for the tracking coordinates.
“What’s going on?” Hally asks.
“Somethin’s goin’ on with Willow. Some chick got into her car and now the prospects have lost her. I’ve got a tracking device in her purse, I’m pullin’ it up now to see where she is.”
“Holy shit.”
I click on the app and then bark out the directions to Hally. She pulls off the side of the road, then does a U-turn.
“Do they know who the girl is?” Hally asks.
“No, but we will soon.”
I call Audrina. “Hello, Haze, how is everything? You just missed Will—”
“Sorry to be blunt, but who was Willow talkin’ to when you guys left?”
“I-I don’t know, Haze. I went back into the daycare to get Aubrey-May… Why? What’s wrong? Is Willow okay?”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” I say, not wanting to stress her out with the baby in tow. “I just don’t know who this chick is, and now Willow won’t answer her phone. I just need to check on her.”
“Oh, Payden will know, they see her all the time. I think she would know her name.”
“Thanks, Audrina.”
I dial Payden, but it goes to voicemail. I dial her office, leaving a message with her assistant to call me urgently. I bang my fist against the dash. “Fuck!” Next, I dial Sawyer and he picks up on the first ring. “Yo.”
“I need the most recent surveillance footage for Bella’s studio. They had a hot yoga class this mornin’ and some woman got into Willow’s car and the prospects lost her. I don’t like this one little bit, call it a hunch.”
“Holy shit,” he says. “I’ll get right on it.”
“Call me the second you have her. Rip is goin’ into the studio now to find out who this chick is. Call Cash and let him know, and tell my brothers to meet us at the location I’m about to send them.”
“Okay, dialing Cash now.”
I hang up. “Fuck.” The tracker shows her location nearing the Lower Ninth Ward, right across town. “Step on it.”
“Jesus, this is nuts. Oh, my god, I knew this asshole wasn’t acting alone!” Hally exclaims.
My phone rings two seconds later. “Haze? What’s goin’ on?” Brew barks.
I fill him in quickly, adding that Willow’s phone is also now switched off. “I’ll grab Logan. Max is here, too.”
“Good, bring him up to speed. If this chick is workin’ for someone, this shit could be really fuckin’ bad. We’re gonna need backup.”
“What if it’s just some chick from yoga?” Brew presses. “You’re actin’ as if she’s been kidnapped.”
“Then you can all laugh about it later, but Willow never turns her phone off. Until she calls me back and tells me I’m a big jerk for sendin’ out a search party, you better get your asses movin’.”
I end the call, then run both hands through my hair.
“Do you think it’s just some random girl?” Hally asks. “I mean, it could be nothing.”
It could also be everything.
“If that’s the case, why would Willow run a red light and purposely lose the prospects? She’s petty, and pissed at me, but not that petty.” I know in my gut this is all bad. But I’ve also got no idea who this fucking chick is.
My phone rings and my heart leaps into my chest. Payden.
“Hello, Haze, what’s wrong? I had an urgent message to call you—”
“Listen up. That chick that goes to yoga with you, blonde ponytail, cute and unassumin’? Wears a baseball cap.”
“There’s lots of people that go to class… oh, wait, do you mean Clare?”
“I don’t fuckin’ know. Willow left the studio with some blonde chick, lost the prospects, ran a red light, and now I’m trackin’ her whereabouts because she won’t pick up her phone.”
“Holy shit. Yes, it’s Clare Jones. She came out for drinks with us on the weekend. She’s really sweet. I’m sure everything’s fine—”
Clare Fucking Jones. Her real fucking name? I bet that isn’t it. “I’ll be the judge of that. I’m en route now, followin’ them across town.”
“Wait, I have Clare’s cell number. I’ll send it to you right now.”
That’s something, I guess. “Got it.”
“Let me know if everything’s alright, Haze, I’m really worried now.”
I don’t let her know I am too, that my heart is beating so fast that it may explode from my chest.
I also don’t let her know that if anything happens to Willow, I will make it my mission in life to track anyone involved in this and gut them like a fucking fish.
I hang up, unable to form words. Then I dial Clare Jones.